My DD has had some odd behaviors ever since she was about 6 months old. She hand flaps when excited and her mouth would make this O shape when she did it and she would sort of squeak. Then, after 5 seconds or so, she would sort of snap out of it until next time.
I wrote it off for a long time, because I have a relative who did this as a baby, and grew out of it. Well, she's 4.5 now, and she still hand flaps, and now there are other behaviors that go along with the hand flapping too... She started doing a repetitive dry cough right after DS was born last year, and also repetitive tight blinking pretty much all day long (still does this). These days, when she is watching TV or excited in some way, she jumps up and down, hand flaps, twists her fingers together, and twists her lips, all at the same time. She is able to stop the behavior if she feels self-conscious about it, such as out in public.
My DH is almost angry with me for being concerned about this. He says she will outgrow it "when she realizes that it looks weird to people". Then it came out that HE had an eyeblinking tic and also a lip-licking tic when he was a kid, and he says that he consciously stopped both when he realized it looked strange to people. So maybe it hits too close to home when I say she needs to be evaluated...
We switched to a different ped recently, because I had a feeling our old ped wouldn't have listened to my concerns. The new ped, who really listened to all my concerns, already has us set up for an appointment with a peds neurologist in a couple weeks.
The appointment is supposed to last one hour. I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me what to expect during a peds neuro visit? Should I bring video of her doing these behaviors for them to see, on the off chance that she doesn't do it while we're there?
Also, anyone whose kids have tics or stims, what did an official diagnosis do for your child? I mean, did your child end up getting some kind of therapy or treatment, or was getting a diagnosis more just about having an official name for what was different about your child? (hope that makes sense)
Thanks!
I wrote it off for a long time, because I have a relative who did this as a baby, and grew out of it. Well, she's 4.5 now, and she still hand flaps, and now there are other behaviors that go along with the hand flapping too... She started doing a repetitive dry cough right after DS was born last year, and also repetitive tight blinking pretty much all day long (still does this). These days, when she is watching TV or excited in some way, she jumps up and down, hand flaps, twists her fingers together, and twists her lips, all at the same time. She is able to stop the behavior if she feels self-conscious about it, such as out in public.
My DH is almost angry with me for being concerned about this. He says she will outgrow it "when she realizes that it looks weird to people". Then it came out that HE had an eyeblinking tic and also a lip-licking tic when he was a kid, and he says that he consciously stopped both when he realized it looked strange to people. So maybe it hits too close to home when I say she needs to be evaluated...
We switched to a different ped recently, because I had a feeling our old ped wouldn't have listened to my concerns. The new ped, who really listened to all my concerns, already has us set up for an appointment with a peds neurologist in a couple weeks.
The appointment is supposed to last one hour. I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me what to expect during a peds neuro visit? Should I bring video of her doing these behaviors for them to see, on the off chance that she doesn't do it while we're there?
Also, anyone whose kids have tics or stims, what did an official diagnosis do for your child? I mean, did your child end up getting some kind of therapy or treatment, or was getting a diagnosis more just about having an official name for what was different about your child? (hope that makes sense)
Thanks!
I will definitely try to get some video this week (shouldn't be too hard since she does these things pretty much anytime she is excited/overstimulated).
